Page 31 of Delusional

Owens looked at Ellis. “The best part of this target is the company itself,” he explained, like he was a teacher addressing a student who hadn’t been paying attention. “Virtual Spaces is expanding throughout the country. They have no regard for the environment, and their method of tracking employees and people who utilize their services of a virtual office is outrageous. It makes Facebook look like the Yellow Pages.”

Owens looked over the whole group to make sure he had everyone’s attention. “Physically, one of the best things about this target is that although their main office is on the tenth floor, their reception and public face is on the first floor. With bay windows directly on the street. It’s a dream location.”

Ellis asked, “What about security and surveillance technology?”

“It looks like an Option Security system. The live stream from the security cameras goes to a storage drive. They would keep the permanent backup drives in the building. That’s probably a selling point to bring in tenants. No one wants to have their footage held by another company.”

“Don’t we have to worry about that backup footage stored in the building? They’ll be able to see our faces clearly.”

“Not necessarily. I’m the only one who needs to go in while the security cameras are still operating. It’s cold out, so I’ll wear a cap and a scarf across my face. I’ll leave the briefcase with the bomb next to the interior wall of the Virtual Spaces reception area.”

Pry needed to assert his intelligence as well. “How does leaving a bomb inside of an office destroy the backup for the security footage?”

“Because I studied the schematics of this building, and the other side of that wall is exactly where I’d put the backup for the security footage.”

Pry looked confused. “You looked at what?”

“The schematics. You know, the floor plans.”

“How’d you get them?”

“If you look through the building department’s electronic files, there’s been enough work done to the first floor of this building that I got a good view of the entire floor. The security offices are on the first floor and the narrow room behind shares the wall with Virtual Spaces.”

Kimmy mumbled, “That’s really smart.”

Pry growled a little. Then he said, “It’s not that smart. What about the live feed? Wouldn’t someone see that?”

“Not if I give you a four-foot piece of rebar. As tall as you are, you should be able to knock their connection box off the rear wall.”

Ellis said, “Not very high-tech.”

Owens shrugged. “That’s the problem with technology. It makes some easy tasks harder, but it’s also subject to brute-force solutions.”

Pry complained, “I don’t even know where this box I’m supposed to knock out is.”

“I’ll point out exactly which one it is. It has Option Security’s logo across the cover.” Owens didn’t like the way Pry cocked his head. Like a dog that didn’t understand where a noise was coming from.

He told the others to wait and led Pry around the block and down the alley behind the building. Owens pointed at a control box bolted into the wall about a dozen feet above the alley, with the Option Security logo painted across its cover.

“You can reach that with a three- or four-foot stick or rod of some kind, right?”

“Easy. I’m tall.” He made a point to turn and look down on Owens, who was a good eight inches shorter.

Being alone with the big man made Owens nervous. Pry’s unpredictable nature and size were enough to scare anyone.

“Your missing fingers won’t affect your grip, will they?” Owens asked.

Pry lifted his left hand in front of his face and flexed his thumb and two remaining fingers. “You know I blame you for this.”

Owens swallowed hard but pushed back. “Hey, you’re the one who went poking around my workbench without permission.”

“How was I supposed to know you had a blasting cap sitting in an old milk carton?”

“You guys came to me because you knew I had expertise with explosives. Isn’t that something you should have assumed before you started going through my tools and supplies?”

Pry cut his eyes at Owens. “You think having a college degree makes anything you say sound smart. I don’t think you make any sense at all. I don’t think you understand the world or people. I should probably sue you for what happened to my hand.”

“And get what? I never really needed money for much until you guys made me move to the city.” When Pry didn’t say anything, Owens continued: “Back to my original question. Can you grip firmly enough even with your missing fingers?”